Fischer hearing over fatal crash continued until January

The case against a School Board member's wife accused of leaving the scene of a fatal crash in Palm Coast has been continued until next year to allow more time for questioning of potential witnesses.

FRANK FERNANDEZSTAFF WRITER

The case against a school board member's wife accused of leaving the scene of a fatal crash in Palm Coast has been continued until next year to allow more time for questioning of potential witnesses.

Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano set a pre-trial hearing for January in the case of Jamesine Fischer, the wife of Flagler County School Board Member John Fischer. The exact date had not been set by late Thursday.

Jamesine Fischer was driving her PT Cruiser about 6 p.m. Nov. 10 when it struck Francoise Pecqueur as she walked her dog along Columbia Lane near Colechester Lane in Palm Coast, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The 76-year-old Pecqueur died two days later.

Jamesine Fischer, 55, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of a crash involving death, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Fischer has also been given a traffic citation accusing her of careless driving. She is free on $30,000 bail.

Jamesine Fischer's defense attorney, Steve Alexander, was not present in court Thursday but he sent his son Josh Alexander to represent her. Josh Alexander said additional depositions in the case are scheduled for Jan. 14. He said after the hearing that he believed the depositions were of doctors.

Prosecutor Laura Moody did not object to the continuance. Another prosecutor, Russ Bausch, who also was not present in court Thursday, has previously said that prosecutors are ready for trial.

During the last hearing on Sept. 12, Steve Alexander told Zambrano that he had completed about 25 depositions and still needed to do another 20 or so as part of his preparation for trial.

Zambrano will not preside over a trial, if there is one, because he is leaving Flagler County in November. Zambrano had been scheduled to remain in Flagler through the end of the year. Instead Zambrano will start his new duties on Dec. 3 in the circuit civil division in DeLand. His replacement in Flagler, Circuit Judge J. David Walsh, would preside over any trial for Jamesine Fischer.

Jamesine Fischer is accused of violating state law by failing to call 9-1-1 for help and by not telling emergency workers at the scene that she may have struck Pecqueur, according to the charging affidavit. She also violated the law by not reporting the crash an hour later when she said she saw the damage to her vehicle's windshield, charging documents state.

“While at the scene, Mrs. Fischer attempted to mislead medical personnel and bystanders at the scene as to the events of the crash by leading them to believe that there had been no collision but that Mrs. Pecqueur had fallen,” according to the affidavit.